


Coming To Terms

by sandboxqueen



Category: Original Work
Genre: Explicit Language, Multi, POV First Person, POV Multiple, Platonic Relationships, Single Parents, Tags May Change, lgbtq character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:39:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7776448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandboxqueen/pseuds/sandboxqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Miles family discover there's more to this whole 'starting again' thing than they thought. Making a new life for themselves comes with a few new bombshells as not everything is as simple as buying a new home. Even that isn't simple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Erin - It Could Work

“I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really-!”

I immediately regret my life decisions as the booming voice of Mel B blasted through my earphones. Almost dropping the box in my hands I attempted to reach my pocket, giving up when a box flap slapped me across the face and settling for shimmying an earphone out of my ear. I hated moving like this. No, I despised moving like this. With a huff I made my way towards the building I’d be calling my new home.

“I see the box is winning this fight then?” I let out a groan as a large hand landed on my head, ruffling my already messed up hair. Long car rides do that to a person. Swatting off my brother I glared up at him, deciding it might be time I became one of three instead of four children. He just smiled, throwing an arm around my shoulders as I fought to regain my balance. “Don’t be too bummed out Ez. I mean you’ve got to admit,” he said as he removed his arm, easily adjusting the box under his other arm, “this is a quite a house we’ve got here.”

I looked up, inspecting our place. I mean, he wasn’t wrong there, it’s a pretty house for sure. Two story, a spacious garden, four bedrooms, and a double garage, definitely a step up from the rental we had before we found this place. I shrugged, cutting off my inner real-estate agent. “’S not bad I guess,” I said, finishing with a sigh. It was quite a house. I groaned again as I felt his hand clap my back, threatening to send me flying forward. Curse you and your workout routines Josh. I gave my brother the stink eye before straightening and making my way into our ‘humble abode’. 

As I broke the threshold of the open door I stopped, taking in my surroundings. Hardwood flooring in the entryway, nice choice. A door to the left, probably the extra room dad was considering as a study. Door to the right, probably connecting to the garage judging by the lock. Further in is the front lounge, dark carpet, smart.

The floor changes back to hardwood, leading to the rest of the bottom floor and the staircase leading up adjacent to a short hall to the side, presumably to the laundry and extra bathroom. Venturing towards the back of the house it opens to another large lounge room and then to the kitchen. I drop the box in my arms, thankful for the large lettering saying ‘KITCHEN’ along the side, before heading back to the stairs. 

The walk to check my phone and turn down my music, not wanting another near deaf experience with Scary Spice, I fail to see a large box with leg coming towards me. I look up in time to hold my hands under the box as it collides with my face. “Woah there big man, keep an eye out for pedestrians yeah?” I say, peaking around the box to see the sheepish face of my younger brother looking down at me. 

“Sorry B. This thing is bigger than you.” He hefts the box up, adjusting his hold around the safety hazard. I pat his arm as I point in the direction on the kitchen as his box suggests. He looks around me, finding his destination. “Thanks.” He smiles and makes his way further in.

I shake my head before making my way up the carpeted staircase as the serene piano rift of ‘Someone Like You’ plays in my ear. A little depressing given circumstances but it’s not all bad.

I quietly sing along as I continue my trek up the stairs, not bothering to change the song as I begin to think of my mother. I scoff at the term. Could I even call her that? She was never really much of a mother to any of us. 

“That you found a girl, and you’re married now.” I grimace at the lyrics. Maybe a bit too close to home. I pause on the last step up, taking a look around the room as I internally berate the woman that bought me into the world. I’ve always heard of people leaving their marriage to be with other people and I can’t exactly say I’m surprised that happened to my parents. 

Yeah, she found a girl alright. Can’t get married yet, but she found one. 

Deciding I don’t need someone like her and went to skip the song. My thumb paused over the screen as the song continued. “Guess she gave you things, I couldn’t give to you.” I sigh, staring down at the screen in distain, slamming my thumb down on the skip icon.

It became clear pretty quickly why she never really bothered with her children. She didn’t want to be married to our dad. Our kind, wonderful, beautiful dad. I guess convenience marriages are like that. 

Not that it was ever really much of a marriage. She was never around anyway. I barely knew anything about her. 

I take a deep breath, letting it out as I calmed down. This wasn’t going to help me. 

Nodding to myself I continue my walkthrough, finding three bedrooms off to the right with a bathroom and separate toilet. The boys could have these rooms I concluded as I made my way to the left of the stairs to another bedroom and a master bedroom. Me and dad would take these. 

He’d had the same idea I concluded, finding him walk in behind me as I entered what would be my room. He let out a small grunt as he carefully placed a box labelled ‘ERIN MUSIC’ in the middle of the room. He straightens up before sending me one of his goofy grins, “What do you think boss?” he asks, a hint of hopefulness evident in the question.

I tilt my head, tapping my chin in thought, “It could work,” I say, motioning for him to follow as I walk out, snatching the masking tape and sharpie from his belt as I pass. I go through the process of writing ‘Erin’ in my cursive, ripping the expanse of tape off the roll and smoothing it onto the door of the room. I look up to my dad, finding a relived smile on his face at my somewhat approval. I smile before moving to do the same on the other doors of the second level. 

Once the names ‘Dean’, ‘Joshua’, ‘Theodore’, and ‘Kerry’ are distributed we make our way back out, finding the boys all trying to wrestle Vex'ahlia, the giant husky, out of the back of the jeep with Percy, the white Scottish fold, watching on from the top of the mailbox. I roll my eyes, a small smile appearing as I go to get a new box from the truck, catching the attention of the troublemaking dog. 

I laugh as the boys all give out varying sounds of surprise as she leaps out, bumping them out of the way in the process, and follows along in excitement. 

‘Yeah,’ I think, grabbing a box labelled ‘KERRY BOOKS’ and giving the house a small smile as I walk back in, ‘it could work.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've made it this far, thank you. 
> 
> It's still a work in progress and I'm still thinking of rewriting this completely. It will be in first person with every chapter being from the perspective of a different family member. No, it won't be a rewrite of each chapter for every person. This scenario applied more to Erin than it did to any of the brothers or the father. Every point of view will have a different scenario to it, since rereading the same thing five times gets boring after a while. Some may continue from where the last person left off and some may be a completely different thing. 
> 
> But reguardless I'd appreciate any feedback you'v got. A comment on the P.O.V switch or my writing or anything is appreciated. Thanks.


	2. Joshua - Oh Damn

I huff, helping Kerry off his ass as I send silent threats to the mutt following Erin. “What is it with you and Vex?” Teddy asks, strategically shifting strands of his hair around to create the perfect pastel paint brush look. I snort, resting a hand just hard enough to mess up his ‘hard work’ as I go to grab another box. 

With little work, I heft two boxes out of the truck, ‘THEO’S CRAP’ written in Erin’s giant cursive lettering. I smile at her crude choice of words, shaking my head as I trek it back to the house. “I’m telling you the damn thing has it out for me,” I say as I pass by my younger brothers again, ruffling Kerry’s hair as I go. He bats at my hand with a smile before going to grab a box as well.

I feel a large hand push me hand down, ruffling the mop effect I have going on, finding dad walking past me. “You ever think treating her with some respect could help with that?” he asks with an amused smirk. I let out a sharp “HA!” as I continue on my way to the house. 

“Hey, I’m the one that walks her aren’t I? What more does she want!” I yell out before entering the house. It’s nice. With a smile I make my way up the stairs, making sure to send Vex a look as if to say ‘I’m watching you’ as I pass her curled up form on the carpet, blue eyes watching me intently. Keep watching buddy. Keep watching.

I reach the door labelled ‘Theodore’, kicking it open and trudging to the middle. I drop the boxes with a resounding ‘thud’ before turning to leave again, planning to bring up more boxes. 

I stop however, my attention brought to the window.

It had a pretty clear view of the neighbour’s house to the left. The yard was pretty big, a typical yard for a family with kids, evident from the small swing set and a few toys scattered about. My gaze however is brought to the window across from Theo’s. 

The walls were covered in drawings and paintings, some of people, some of scenery, some weren’t really anything but eye catching nonetheless. It drew me closer to the window, wanting to see more but failing to get a clear view. I could hear footsteps coming from the hall, drawing my attention to whoever was coming in behind me. I nodded in greeting to my dad as he walked in, box in hand and Percy in tow. 

He dropped the box with the others, joining me by the window, “What are we looking at?” he asked, scanning the outside world with a raised brow. I shrugged, continuing to scrutinize the neighbour’s art. 

I heard a huff, recognising the exasperated sounds of Erin as she entered the room, soon joining us by the window on my other side. “We creeping on the neighbours now?” dad and I snorted at her question as the door to the ‘art room’ as I’d dubbed it opened. “Oooh, he’s cute.” I shook my head at her statement with a short laugh before turning my gaze back to the person, now identified as a guy, who had entered with a basket of probably clean clothes.

He blew a bit of his hair out of his face, the action in vain as it fell back into its previous position. I let out a ‘heh’ as he glared at the offending strand, dropping the basket and pulling his somewhat long her into a small bun, “Actually, yeah he is.” I said in agreeance, continuing my people watching – or more person watching – before realising what I had said. 

My dad and sister seemed to realise at the same time, giving me an odd look. “Wait, what?” I stared back at my dad, just as shocked as he was, as a smirk began to appear on his face. “Got something you wanna tell us there powder keg?” 

I blinked owlishly a few times, trying to process what I had meant, only to come to the same conclusion as before. I thought he was cute. 

“Wait, wait. So, does this mean you’re gay?” I looked down at Erin, thinking about it for a moment. Was I?

I pushed away from the window, making my way out of the room before I said anything else questionable. “’Yeah he is.’ What the fuck was I thinking?” I muttered to myself as I exited the house. There were still more boxes to get and I needed something to take my mind off of what just happened. 

‘Maybe I’m just tired.’ I thought as I picked up another two boxes, sighing in relief when I found my own name on them. ‘At least I don’t have to see him again.’

Well, you could say I was wrong. I kicked open the door of my new room, finding a window on the same wall as in Theodore’s. “Oh fucking heck.” I say, dropping the boxes on the floor as I look out to see an even better view of the hot neighbour’s room.

“’Hot neighbour’? The fuck Josh.” I slapped myself in the forehead, hoping to knock a few brain cells back into place. I couldn’t be gay could I?

As I questioned this I hazarded a glance out the window, head half cradled in my hands. “Oh fucking what?” I half turned away, half watched as the mystery blonde changed his shirt. I could swear I heard Erin laughing as I yelled out profanities at the scene. She was probably watching too. 

Not wanting to subject myself to more humiliation, or somehow get caught watching, I made my way back through the house, trying to think of any and every possible answer to the circumstance. 

Maybe, I’ve had a sudden aneurism. I’m having a stroke? I’m in a dream and soon I’ll wake up and think of my exe girlfriend’s tits!

‘Okay,’ I think as I weigh the possibilities in my head, ‘I never even thought of her tits while we were dating.’ I stop at the thought. Running my hands through my hair I let out a frustrated groan. I shake my head, deciding now was not the time to be having a life changing realisation. 

I let out a deep sigh as I step outside again, ‘This can wait,’ I think as I get to the truck again, grabbing more boxes for Erin’s room, ‘it’s not like it’s the end of the world anyway.’ I turn back to the house, immediately regretting my life decisions as I see someone exit the neighbour’s house. 

The guy with the hair steps out, holding the door for two younger kids to run out as he shakes his head with a laugh. I stop, admiring how good that actually looked before internally slapping myself across the face and making my way towards the house again. 

Before I’m able to look away though, he sees me and smiles. Wait, was that a wink. 

“Oh damn.” I say to myself, feeling my cheeks heat up as I quicken the pace towards the house, giving him a quick nod as I go. 

I am so fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I wrote the first chapter and then just went with it even though I just posted the first.  
> So it's a pretty rough write but like I said I just pumped it out. I'm no expert.  
> So let me know what you think. Thanks for the read.


	3. Theodore - Never Change

I hear screaming coming from the yard next to our new house, looking to find two kids being chased around by what looked like they’re big brother. I smile, remembering when Josh used to do that with Kerry and I when we were little. One of them stops, looking over at me in curiosity, the little boy in overalls, before smiling and waving at me enthusiastically. I laugh, waving back before turning to grab a box from the truck. 

“Gabby! Gabby! He has pink hair!” I stop, waiting to hear the brother’s reaction to my choice of hair colour.

“Yeah he does, doesn’t he? Pretty cool huh?” I smile to myself, happy to hear another big brother in the world, free of masculinity issues, as I heft a considerably heavy box with “JOSH’S ART CRAP” written in large cursive letters. I snort at Erin’s crude choice of wording, making my way towards the house as the little boy watched on, admiration gleaming in his big eyes. 

There’s my ego boost for the day.

I enter the house, a bit of a spring in my step as I settled into the prospect of living in this new neighbourhood, until Josh’s box is taken from my hands and dad is standing in front of me. “How you doing big man?” he asks, putting the box down and bringing a hand to my head, “You’re looking a bit pale there. Need a break?” 

It suddenly dawns on me just how tired I’ve gotten through all of this. Feeling my head spin, I scrunch up my eyes, nodding as I rest a hand on the door frame to steady myself. Goddamn chronic fatigue bullshit. I feel an arm snake around my shoulders, guiding me back out the door to the front porch. I open my eyes, finding Kerry had helped me out, and take a seat on the top step, cradling my head in my hands. “Thanks.” 

He smiles down at me, waving me off as he makes his way to the Jeep, rummaging through what was probably the esky in the back, before resurfacing with two bottles. “You know, you really should pay more attention to the tired thing,” he says, handing me a bottle before cracking the lid on his own, “it’s gonna get you in some serious shit one of these days.” He takes a swig from his water as I roll my eyes, cracking the lid on my own. 

“He’s right Ted.” Josh says, appearing by my side, dropping down to sit beside me along with Erin as dad moves to stand next to Kerry, stealing the water from his hands for himself. 

I sigh, taking a sip of water as I lean back on my free arm. “It just sucks you know?” I whine, handing the bottle to Erin as she holds out her hand for it, “I used to be able to keep up and now,” I let out another sigh, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin on my knuckles. I shrug looking around at everyone’s understanding faces. 

“Come on,” Erin slings an arm over my shoulders, pointing a manicured figure in my face, “you know what the doctor said. You’ll be back in business eventually. And then,” she continued, standing up before winking down at me, “I’ll finally kick your ass in tennis.” 

I laugh along with everyone else, standing with the help of my brothers and looking down at her with a raised brow, “No one is that handicapped B.”

The day continues and I find myself lying on the grass of the front yard, eyes closed with Percival the cat curled up on my stomach as I stroke his fur. My skin tingles at the feeling of the sun beating down against it. Feels pretty nice. 

Of course, it doesn’t stop how useless I’m feeling.

With a deep sigh I think back on when I wasn’t so weak and helpless. It feels like a lifetime away, despite my fatigue only being apparent since a year ago. Maybe two now that I think about it. Not really something I keep track of. 

Chronic fatigue; doesn’t sound that serious until you get it really. In truth, it isn’t all that life threatening. Not until you try to outrun it anyway. Which, being me, I tried to do. I regret all my life decisions that day of course. 

In all honesty, I was told to do less than what I thought I was capable of, which to be honest is probably a better idea than what I had in mind. Treadmills are a no go too. And weight machines. Learnt those the hard way. Big mistake. Huge.

As I thought back on my various horrible life decisions through all of this and many stupidity induced hospital visits, I had failed to realise the sun had been blocked out, no longer shining against my eyelids. 

A sudden rather forceful nudge to my hip shook me from my silent reverie, finally making me open my eyes, seeing Erin smiling down at me. I smile back, watching as she offers me her hands. “How you doing big man?” She asks as I sit up, taking hold of her hands and letting her pull me up with less effort than her stature would suggest. 

I shrug, the both of us walking up to the house as dad paid off the mover and Josh grabbed the last box, latching the doors of the truck before making his way back to the house with Kerry in tow. “I’m okay I guess. Just wishing things were different,” I reply, cringing slightly at the sad smile I get in return. 

“We all do Theo,” she wraps an arm around my own, linking them as we walk, “it’s not exactly fun to watch you be sad all the time you know.” She stops walking, me along with her. “Look, I know it’s hard. You aren’t the sit still type after all. But remember what the doctors said; you’ll be back too normal in time.” I sigh, looking down at her hopeful expression, feeling a bit of that hope latch onto me. 

I shove her shoulder, signalling for her to stop the pity party with a smile. “God this family is dramatic,” I say, eliciting a laugh from her as we begin to walk again, “we really need to get our shit together don’t we?” 

Erin gives me a mock shocked expression, “Are you saying the Miles family should change? That we should be,” she chokes slightly on her words, as if they were acid in her mouth, “typically suburban?” 

I roll my eyes, holding back a large grin, “You make it sound so horrible.”

We laugh together, figuring there was no point in furthering the charade. 

‘Well, a lot’s changed in a year or so,’ I think as my siblings argue over what to order for dinner. It feels different now than it used to. Lighter. Like a big weight has been lifted from all of us. 

I watch as dad orders the final food choices and Josh pulls out his cards for a game of bullshit, our usual go to on family nights, making me smile at the fonder memories, ‘But I guess some things will never change.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one bites the dust.   
> I forgot how fun and frustrating it was to actually write. But anyway.  
> Hope you're enjoying it. Please let me know what you think.


End file.
